I didn't know that it could kill

This photographic series explores the fragile intersection between childhood imagination and the harsh reality of war. The central character is a young boy playing with a simple paper airplane amidst the ruins of his city. What begins as a symbol of innocence and dreams of flight slowly transforms into a powerful metaphor of conflict and loss.

Through carefully constructed visual narration, the series follows the boy’s journey — from playful creation to a moment of unsettling realization. The warm, vibrant colors associated with childhood contrast sharply with the muted, cold tones of the destroyed environment. This tension builds with each image, culminating in the boy’s quiet act of laying down the airplane, a gesture of both understanding and refusal.

By blending documentary photography with imaginative, metaphorical elements, the series creates a multilayered narrative. Explosions emerge from flashes of light; playgrounds turn into battlefields; a toy becomes a weapon. The title, “I Didn’t Know It Could Kill,” echoes the child’s internal voice — a mixture of innocence and shock in the face of a reality too complex to comprehend.

This project reflects on vulnerability, the loss of innocence, and the ways war seeps into the private world of childhood. It invites viewers to question: What does a child truly see when playing in a landscape of war? And can we still call it childhood?